This invention relates to an abrasive and wear resistant material.
Cemented carbide is a material which is used extensively in industry for a variety of applications, both as an abrading material and a wear resistant material. Cemented carbides generally consist of suitable carbide particles such as tungsten carbide, tantalum carbide or titanium carbide bonded together by means of a metal such as cobalt, iron or nickel or alloy thereof. Typically, the metal content of cemented carbides is 3 to 35 percent by weight. They are produced by sintering the carbide particles and metal to temperatures of the order of 1400.degree.C.
Cemented carbides are used as supports for diamond and cubic boron nitride compacts. In such abrasive products it is an edge of the compact which performs the abrading operation in use. During abrading operations, abrasive chips may strike against the carbide support and cause undercutting in that region weakening the product. A typical example of this can be found in drilling using an insert comprising an elongate cemented carbide pin on the end of which is mounted a diamond compact. Undercutting of the pin immediately behind the compact occurs.